Creating experiences that facilitate the construction of knowledge.
What is Constructivism Learning Theory?
Constructivism is a prominent learning theory positing that individuals actively construct their knowledge of the world, rather than passively absorbing information. This perspective suggests that as learners interact with the world and reflect upon their experiences, they build their own mental representations and integrate new information into their existing understanding, known as schemas.
Central to constructivism are the concepts of assimilation and accommodation, which describe how learners process new information in relation to their pre-existing knowledge.
- Assimilation: This process involves integrating new information into an already existing schema. It’s like fitting a new piece into a jigsaw puzzle where it readily belongs.
- Accommodation: This involves revising or creating a new schema in response to new information that doesn’t fit existing schemas. It’s like realizing you need to reshape part of your puzzle to fit an unexpected piece.
For instance, imagine a child whose schema for “bird” is anything small that flies. If they see a butterfly, they might initially assimilate it into their “bird” schema. However, upon closer observation, they notice differences – butterflies have different body structures and flight patterns. This new information might lead to accommodation, where the child refines their “bird” schema and possibly creates a new schema for “insects” or “butterflies.” This process of schema revision is crucial in constructivist learning.
The implications of constructivist theory for education are profound:
- Active Engagement: Students learn most effectively when they are actively involved in learning experiences, rather than passively receiving information. Learning is not about transmission but about active participation.
- Social Nature of Learning: Learning is inherently a social process. It is deeply embedded within social contexts where students and educators collaborate to build knowledge. Interaction and collaboration are key components.
- Facilitating Knowledge Construction: Because knowledge cannot be directly transferred from teacher to student, the primary goal of teaching shifts from delivering information to designing rich experiences that facilitate students’ own construction of knowledge.
This last point is critical. A traditional teaching approach often focuses on information delivery. In contrast, constructivism emphasizes that educators cannot simply impart knowledge directly into students’ minds. Instead, the teacher’s role is to create and curate experiences that enable students to construct their own understanding and knowledge frameworks. Therefore, effective teaching within a constructivist framework is fundamentally about designing these facilitative experiences.
Constructivism in the Classroom: Transforming Teaching Practices
Adopting constructivist principles significantly transforms teaching methodologies and classroom environments. The following comparison, adapted from the Teaching and Learning Resources wiki, highlights the shift from traditional to constructivist classrooms across key educational components:
| Feature | Traditional Classroom | Constructivist Classroom |
|---|---|---|
| Curriculum Design | Begins with isolated parts, emphasizing basic skills in isolation. | Emphasizes overarching concepts, starting with the whole context and then exploring its parts. |
| Curriculum Flexibility | Strict adherence to a pre-set curriculum is highly valued. | Student questions and interests are encouraged and pursued, allowing for curriculum flexibility. |
| Learning Materials | Primarily relies on textbooks and standardized workbooks. | Utilizes primary sources, manipulative materials, and real-world artifacts to engage students directly. |
| Learning Process | Learning is based on rote repetition and memorization of facts. | Learning is interactive, building upon students’ prior knowledge and experiences. |
| Teacher’s Role | Teachers disseminate information; students are passive recipients of knowledge. | Teachers facilitate dialogue, guiding students to construct their own understanding and knowledge. |
| Teacher’s Authority | Teacher’s role is directive and authority-based, controlling the flow of information. | Teacher’s role is interactive and facilitative, rooted in negotiation and collaborative learning. |
| Assessment Methods | Assessment is primarily through standardized tests focused on correct answers and factual recall. | Assessment includes diverse methods like student projects, observations, portfolios, and viewpoints, alongside tests. The learning process is valued as much as the final product. |
| Nature of Knowledge | Knowledge is viewed as inert, fixed, and absolute. | Knowledge is seen as dynamic, evolving, and ever-changing with new experiences and perspectives. |
| Student Interaction | Students primarily work individually and in isolation. | Students primarily work collaboratively in groups, fostering peer learning and social negotiation of meaning. |
Essential Components of Constructivist Teaching
To effectively implement constructivist principles in teaching and lesson design, certain core components are essential. Drawing from Baviskar, Hartle & Whitney (2009), these key elements are crucial for fostering a constructivist learning environment:
-
Elicit Prior Knowledge: Constructivism recognizes that new knowledge is built upon the foundation of a learner’s existing knowledge. Therefore, lessons should always begin by activating and eliciting relevant prior knowledge. Effective activities for this include pre-tests to gauge existing understanding, informal interviews to explore student perspectives, and small group warm-up activities designed to recall previous learning. For example, before starting a lesson on photosynthesis, a teacher might ask students what they already know about how plants get food.
-
Create Cognitive Dissonance: Learning is often sparked by challenges and discrepancies between existing understanding and new experiences. Teachers should design problems and activities that intentionally challenge students’ current schemas, creating cognitive dissonance. This discomfort motivates learners to resolve the conflict by constructing new knowledge. Presenting a problem that contradicts students’ initial assumptions, or introducing a case study that challenges their current understanding, can be highly effective.
-
Apply Knowledge with Feedback: Constructivism emphasizes the importance of applying newly forming knowledge in practical contexts and receiving timely feedback. Encourage students to evaluate new information critically and modify their existing schemas based on their applications. Activities should allow students to compare their pre-existing understandings with novel situations. Constructivist activities in this phase might include student presentations where they explain their understanding, small group or class discussions to debate and refine ideas, and formative quizzes designed to provide feedback and guide further learning, not just to grade.
-
Reflect on Learning: Reflection is a critical component of constructivist learning. Providing students with opportunities to reflect on their learning process helps them consolidate new knowledge and understand how their understanding has evolved. Activities that promote reflection include student presentations that require them to articulate their learning journey, reflexive papers where they analyze their learning process, or creating step-by-step tutorials for other students, which forces them to organize and internalize their knowledge in a teachable format.
By incorporating these essential components, educators can create powerful constructivist learning environments that empower students to become active, engaged, and effective learners.
Examples of Constructivist Classroom Activities
(This section would list examples of activities – the original article has a reference list instead, which is kept below)
References
- Abbott, M. L., & Fouts, J. T. (2003). Constructivist Teaching and Student Achievement: The Results of a School-Level Classroom Observation Study in Washington. Technical Report.
- Ayaz, M. F., & Sekerci, H. (2015). The Effects of the Constructivist Learning Approach on Student’s Academic Achievement: A Meta-Analysis Study. Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology-TOJET, 14(4), 143-156.
- Bada, S. O., & Olusegun, S. (2015). Constructivism learning theory: A paradigm for teaching and learning. Journal of Research & Method in Education, 5(6), 66-70.
- Baviskar 1, S. N., Hartle, R. T., & Whitney, T. (2009). Essential criteria to characterize constructivist teaching: Derived from a review of the literature and applied to five constructivist‐teaching method articles. International Journal of Science Education, 31(4), 541-550.
- Cetin-Dindar, A. (2016). Student Motivation in Constructivist Learning Environment. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science & Technology Education, 12(2).
- Hein, G. (1991). Constructivist learning theory. Institute for Inquiry. Available at: http://www.exploratorium.edu/ifi/resources/constructivistlearning.html.
- Kim, J. S. (2005). The effects of a constructivist teaching approach on student academic achievement, self-concept, and learning strategies. Asia pacific education review, 6(1), 7-19.
- Saunders, W. L. (1992). The constructivist perspective: Implications and teaching strategies for science. School Science and Mathematics, 92(3), 136-141.
- Semerci, Ç., & Batdi, V. (2015). A meta-analysis of constructivist learning approach on learners’ academic achievements, retention and attitudes. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 3(2) doi:10.11114/jets.v3i2.644
- Siemens, G. (2014). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age.
- Travis, H., & Lord, T. (2004). Traditional and constructivist teaching techniques. Journal of College Science Teaching, 34(3), 12.
